Crossed double layer shoe upper

ABSTRACT

A SHOE WITH DOUBLE UPPERS CROSSED IN TENSION ACROSS THE FOOT, WITH THE INSIDE UPPER ATTACHED TO THE SOLE UNDER THE FOOT AND THE OUTSIDE UPPER ATTACHED TO THE WIDE PART OF THE SOLE NOT UNDER THE FOOT.

1111 3,837,098 451 Sept. 24, 1974 United States Patent 1191 Rathmell[54] CROSSED DOUBLE LAYER SHOE UPPER 2,945,310 7/1960 Levine 36/115Inventor: Richard K. Rathme, y NJ. 3,530,596 9/!970 Kaufmann et 36/25 AL[22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 317,285

Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney, Agent, or FirmRichard K.Rathmell See S h 3mm ntd 0 e wwm mmr meow w S wh a men A Unrd R Pad mutnT e uu S p ot B hm O A mh e k .l. d wmnw O mm? W et t h ota OOTD. h e 7emm .U Amuw 0 MOJ W16 50 RbL AM 34 6 m W R mmj "2 d e m C S u e u c u" nH 8 m m mmh d "mm R 8 s C .M .t. e Umm 11]] 2 8 6 555 5 [rl[ rL UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,522,668 8/1970 Fesl 36/2.5 AL 8 Claims, 2 DrawingFigures Area of Invention This invention deals with an improved shoeupper to provide a more firm, yet comfortable, fit to a variety of footshapes in a standardized shoe. More specifically, it deals with thatpart of a shoe which covers the front part of the wearers foot,especially the ball of the foot.

There is a number of situations, especially for active sporting use,where it is important to have no looseness of the foot within the shoe.It is important that the slightest force or muscular thrust exerted bythe wearer should be transmitted to an exact corresponding degree to thesole. Ski boots, skates, cleated football shoes, baseball shoes,basketball shoes, etc., are some examples where sloppy shoe fit is notacceptable.

Orthopedic shoes for unusual foot shapes likewise may be advantageouslymade according to the present invention.

Background Most of the comfortable shoes today include uppers that arerelatively flexible and pliable, and a sole that is appreciably stifferthan the uppers. The uppers generally are attached to the sole along aline approximately under the edge of the foot. The flexible uppers,therefore, are approximately perpendicular to the sole along this lineof attachment.

It is a matter of physical law that a flexible member can transmitforces in tension only. Where a horizontal force is applied to anyvertical flexible material, there can be no reacting force developed toconstrain motion unless some tension exists in the flexible material andsome angle develops in the flexible material. The reacting force isdependent on both the tension and the angle, and this reacting forcemust equal the applied force if motion is to be eliminated.

When the ball of the foot is thrust sideways in a shoe, frictionalforces will react to a limited extent, but if the thrust force islargerthan the frictional forces developed, the foot will slide sidewaysuntil the angles developed by the uppers relative to the sole aresufficiently different than 90. When the thrust is in the oppositedirection, or to the left instead of the right, the foot will slide inthat direction until sufficient angles are developed in that direction.

It is not sufficient simply to attach the side uppers to the sole alonglines that are under the foot so that the initial angles are less than90 on the right and more than 90 on the left. A thrust to the right sidein such a shoe can cause the upper to slide over the foot until theangle on the left becomes 90 or less.

Likewise, if both segments of the uppers are attached to the sole alonglines that are wide of the foot, the foot can slide from side to side,

The attempted means to overcome this problem have included extra lacingto tighten the uppers all the way to the toes. For instance, the shoesattached to ice skates usually are constructed to be laced all the wayfrom the toes to the lower leg. Extra tension can be helpful indeveloping extra friction forces and in not requiring as much anglechange to be developed. But extra tension can also reduce bloodcirculation and comfort.

An entirely different approach is to use a rigid upper shell over thefoot. High-performance ski boots now commonly are made with rigiduppers. The achievement of acomfortable fit has been a problem. The useof resilient padding defeats the object of preventing motion of the footrelative to the boot. The best ski boots now available are custom-fit bythe injection of some fluid substance that will subsequently harden toconform to the shape of the foot. However, for those people whose feetare still growing, or whose feet tend to swell under tension, or whowant to rent boots, or who want something less expensive than acustomfitted boot, there is still room for improvement.

Description of Invention The present invention is a shoe including asole and two separate flexible uppers crossing over the ball of thewearers foot, with one upper angled to constrain foot movement to theright relative to the sole, and the other angled to constrain footmovement to the left. As shown in FIG. 1, the s0le(l) must be wider thanthe foot, and relatively stiff in at least one direction; i.e.-, thesole should not bend up around the sides of the foot. Such a shoe can beconstructed with an inner upper(2) attached to the sole along a line orlines(3) under the foot, with both the right and left segments of thisupper wrapping around the foot and extending part way over the foot. Theouter upper(4) is attached to the wider part of the sole along lines (5)that are not under the foot, and both segments of this upper extend partway over the foot. Means(6) are provided to pull and maintain tension onthe uppers across the top of the foot, but there is an essentialarrangement within the scope of this invention whereby the insidesegment of the right upper is held in tension by the outside segment ofthe left upper, and the inside segment of the left upper is held intension by the outside. segment of the right upper.

It is obvious that any of several conventional means to pull and holdtension can be used, such as shoe laces if crossed and interwoven, orbuckling devices if attenated, but not two full-length zippers.

It is obvious that various materials can be used forthe uppers, likesoft leather or a fabric, but some materials are preferred for theirability to conform to an irregular shape and then apply a relativelyuniform pressure to all areas of the constrained shape.

Although a shoe upper is usually some sheet of flexible material, itneed not be a continuous sheet, for instance, that is waterproof. Ofcourse, it is preferable for at least one of the uppers of a ski boot tobewaterproof, but we are concerned here with the ability of an upper toaccept a tension load. Thus, one-orbothof the up; pers could be anet-like web, or even a system of shoe laces extending all the way tothe sole. For minimum weight and maximum flexibility, it may bepreferable to construct the outer upper with shoe laces.

It has been common practice to construct shoes with.

pads or tongues under the laces or buckles to'protec t the foot frompinching or little pressure points; the

same can be done in conjunction with this invention. It is obvious thata shoe with a double upper as described can be used inside a largerboot, whether rigidor not.

It is possible that the sole can be more flexible in one direction,approximately perpendicular to the direction of stiffness previouslyspecified. This can be advantageous, for instance, in a football shoewhere flexibility facilitates faster running.

It is well known that boots with double uppers are old in the art, suchas a ski boot with a laced inner boot and an outer boot with independentlaces or buckles. However, such boots were not made to allow each insidesegment of the upper to be held in tension by the opposite outsidesegment.

What is claimed is:

l. A shoe or boot that includes double uppers crossed over the ball ofthe foot of the wearer, and a sole, wherein the uppers are any flexiblematerials that resist elongation in tension, the sole is wider than thefoot and stiffer than the uppers, the inner upper is attached to thesole along a line or lines under the foot, the right segment of theinner upper wraps around the right side of the foot and extends part wayover the foot, the left segment of the inner upper wraps around the leftside of the foot and extends part way over the foot, the right segmentof the outer upper is attached to some part of the sole along a line notunder the foot and beyond the right side of the foot, the left segmentof the outer upper is attached to some part of the sole along a line notunder the foot and beyond the left side of the foot, means are providedto pull and hold a tension force between the right segment of the innerupper and the left segment of the outer upper, and means are provided topull and hold a tension force between the left segment of the innerupper and the right segment of the outer upper.

2. A shoe or boot as in claim 1 where the outer uppers cover a smallerarea than the inner uppers.

3. A shoe or boot as in claim 1 where the inner uppers cover a smallerarea than the outer uppers.

4. A shoe or boot as in claim 2 where the outer uppers are the means topull and hold a tension on the inner uppers.

5. A shoe or boot as in claim 3 where the inner uppers are the means topull and hold a tension on the outer uppers. I

6. A shoe or boot as in claim 1 where either outer upper is comprised ofone or more straps.

7. A shoe or boot as in claim 1 where either outer upper is comprised ofone or more devices to pull and hold a tension force.

8. A shoe or boot as in claim 1 where the left segment of the outeruppers are comprised of a shoe lace, arranged to pull and hold a tensionforce between the right segment of the inside upper and some part of thesole along a line not under the foot and beyond the left side of thefoot, and the right segment of outer uppers are comprised of a shoe lacearranged to pull and hold a tension force between the left segment ofthe inside upper and some part of the sole along a line not under thefoot and beyond the right side of the foot.

